This is why the demon-dead call him the High Lord, Andulvar thought in despair. This is why they fear him enough that he can rule the Dark Realm even though he’s still among the living. It’s too late. There’s no going back. For any of us.

“What have you done?” Hekatah screamed as she rushed toward Saetan.

Andulvar grabbed her arm, hauling her back out of reach. Not because he cared about her, but because he was afraid of what would happen if Saetan responded now.

“Darling Hekatah,” Saetan crooned.

“What did you do?” she screamed again.

“I took care of things,” he replied too softly. “I took care of everything.” He turned and walked up the stairs. When he was halfway up, he stopped and looked back at her. “If you want other lovers, you don’t want me as a husband. I’ve tolerated that game for the last time, Priestess. If it happens again, we’ll be divorced before you have time to leave your lover’s bed. As for him . . .” He smiled a brutal, gentle smile. “I’ll take him to Hell. Your name will be the last thing he screams while the Hounds tear him apart.”

Hekatah stared up at him. Then she made a dismissive gesture. “What did you do to Zuulaman?”

“Zuulaman? That’s a word without meaning.”

“It’s a place, as you very well know.”

Saetan shook his head. “It doesn’t exist.” He walked up the stairs and disappeared down the corridor toward his suite.

Since Saetan was no longer available, Hekatah rounded on Andulvar. “What did he do?” she demanded. “Did he put some kind of shield around the islands so no one can find them?”

“They’re gone, Hekatah,” Andulvar said quietly.

“We sent messengers to find out why the Ambassador left so suddenly but they couldn’t find—”

“The islands are gone.” Hell’s fire! How many times would he have to say it before the bitch finally heard him?

Hekatah frowned at him. “What do you mean they’re gone?”

“The islands don’t exist anymore. The Zuulaman people don’t exist anymore. Everything that ever came from them doesn’t exist anymore.”

She shook her head slowly. “Not possible. You can’t destroy everything about a people that fast.”

“You can’t. I can’t. But the Prince of the Darkness? The High Lord of Hell? He can. Oh, yes, Hekatah. He can.”

She kept shaking her head. “You don’t believe that story about him ruling the Dark Realm. A living man can’t rule the demon-dead, can’t control them.”

Andulvar released her arm and stepped back. “You believe what you choose. But when they butchered his son and sent the pieces to him, Zuulaman broke the chain he’d forged to keep the rest of us safe from what he is. I know what he is. So I know he’s the High Lord of Hell.”